Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm considering switching my 4 year old (also a one year old dumeril and a 2 year old ball python) and from live rats to pre killed. what are my options? either killing them myself or buying frozen and defrosting them at home?

what are the advantages/disadvantages of pre killed food?

will it be a problem switching them over? (my boa is quite a finniky eater as is)

as you can see i have no idea about pre killed food and would appreciate any advice.

thanks ahead of time!

Omer
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1.0.0 Ball Python
0.1.0 Red tailed Boa
0.0.1 Dumeril's Boa

I personally fed live years ago when I first got into the hobby. I have since switched to frozen and have never looked back.

I do not see any benifits to feeding live over frozen thawed ...
First, frozen is always cheaper wherever I get it, especially at reptile shows. Additionally it is more convinient as I do not have to go anywhere to get things on feeding day since I usually stock for about 2-4 months. Feeding frozen thawed or pre killed eliminates the possibility of injury to your snake (frozen eliminates you having to kill the animal if thats not your thing.)

To switch over, start by trying a fresh killed animal. If it is rejected skip the feeding and try again next feeding. If it is rejected again get hemostats or tongs and hold the rat by the tail to intise the snake. Once this is accepted then try just placing it in the cage until that is accepted. Leave it in the cage for a few hours before giving up.
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- Jason F.

Thanks a lot

I was thinkign about that too. I'm getting sick of far away costly trips to the pet store as my collection gets bigger. how should i thaw? just leave them out?
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1.0.0 Ball Python
0.1.0 Red tailed Boa
0.0.1 Dumeril's Boa

The method I use is to fill up my utility sink pretty full with luke warm water. I then let the rats sit (in plastic bags) to thaw. My method of checkign when ready is to hold the rat underwater inbetween my two hands for a bit of time and if I feel any cold I let them sit longer.

Small rats take about an hour for me to thaw this way and obviously the larger, the longer.
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- Jason F.